Contents

Terms

The critics of British rule called themselves Whigs after 1768, identifying with members of the British Whig party (including the Radical Whigs and Patriot Whigs), who favored similar colonial policies. The Oxford English Dictionary third definition of "Patriot" is "A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country; a member of a resistance movement, a freedom fighter. Originally used of those who opposed and fought the British in the American War of Independence." The earliest citation is a 1773 letter by Benjamin Franklin. In Britain at the time, "patriot" had a negative connotation, and was used, says Samuel Johnson as a negative epithet for "a factious disturber of the government."[1]

Influence

Many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers of the United States. The Patriots came from many different backgrounds. Among the most active of the Patriots group were highly educated and fairly wealthy individuals. However, without the support of the ordinary men and women, such as farmers, lawyers, merchants, seamstresses, homemakers, shopkeepers, and ministers, the struggle for independence would have failed.

Historian Robert Calhoon said the consensus of historians is that between 40 and 45 percent of the white population in the Thirteen Colonies supported the Patriots' cause, between 15 and 20% supported the Loyalists, and the remainder were neutral or kept a low profile.[2] With a white population of about 2.5 million, that makes about 380,000 to 500,000 Loyalists. The great majority of them remained in America, since only about 80,000 Loyalists left the United States 1775-1783. They went to Canada, Britain, Florida or the West Indies, but some eventually returned.[3]

Motivations

To understand how people made the choice between being a Patriot or a Loyalist, historians have compared the motivations and personalities of leading men on each side. Labaree (1948) has identified eight characteristics that differentiated the two groups. Psychologically, Loyalists were older, better established, and more likely to resist innovation than the Patriots. Loyalists said the Crown was the legitimate government and resistance to it was morally wrong, while the Patriots thought morality was on their side because the British government had violated the constitutional rights of Englishmen. Men who were alienated by physical attacks on Royal officials took the Loyalist position, while those who applauded were being Patriots. Most men who wanted to find a compromise solution wound up on the Loyalist side, while the proponents of immediate action became Patriots. Merchants in the port cities with long-standing financial and sentimental attachments to the Empire were likely to remain loyal to the system, while few Patriots were so deeply enmeshed in the system. Some Loyalists were procrastinators who believed that independence was bound to come some day, but wanted to postpone the moment; the Patriots wanted to seize the moment. Loyalists were cautious and afraid of anarchy or tyranny that might come from mob rule; Patriots made a systematic effort to use and control mob violence. Finally, Labaree argues that Loyalists were pessimists who lacked the Patriots' confidence that independence lay ahead.[4][5][6]

No taxation without representation

The Patriot faction came to reject taxes imposed by legislatures in which the tax-payer was not represented. "No taxation without representation," was their slogan, referring to the lack of representation in the British parliament. The British countered there was "virtual representation," that is, all members of Parliament represented the interests of all the citizens of the British Empire.

Though some Patriots declared that they were loyal to the king, they believed that the assemblies should control policy relating to the colonies. They should be able to run their own affairs. In fact, they had been running their own affairs since the period of "salutary neglect" before the French and Indian War. Some radical Patriots tarred and feathered tax collectors and customs officers, making those positions dangerous; the practice was especially prevalent in Boston, where many Patriots lived, but was curbed there sooner than elsewhere.[7]

List of prominent Patriots

Most of the individuals listed below served the American Revolution in multiple capacities.

^The most in-depth study of the Patriot psychology is Edwin G. Burrows and Michael Wallace, "The American Revolution: The Ideology and Psychology of National Liberation," Perspectives in American History, (1972) vol. 6 pp 167-306